Another Life
by Unexpainable Awesomeness
Summary: Logan Woods is on the run. The aliens took over and everyone was erased, making room in each body one alien. She stays away from civilization until one day, she went to the city. And was caught. She refuses to be erased like the "weak" who left. What will the soul inside her do? And what will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**So, I haven't finished my first story yet, but I will try my best to post the next chapter daily like my other story. This will be different characters in the beginning, but you will eventually meet the characters from the book. I hope you like it! Give me some feedback!**

**Logan POV**

I started to wake up, still a little groggy. I wanted to open my eyes, attack the stupid parasites that ruined my life. I tried to open my eyes, move any part of my body, but I couldn't move it. My mussels didn't even twitch with the effort. Why can't I move?

Then, I feel another presence in the body, MY body. That's when it hits me. I've been captured. My living days are gone. I can't control my body anymore. But I'm still here.

_I'm still here._ I feel like I want to laugh, but the monster hasn't woken yet. It becomes aware. I block my memories and secrets as I sink to the back of my mind that this monster has taken.

**The Soul POV**

I feel the body becomes conscious. No, MY body now. I can feel the bed I'm laying on is soft. The blanket above me is, too. I vaguely wonder why I'm on a soft bed, but know I'm in a Healing facility from my Insertion. I stay still, knowing its wrong, but I feel safer listening to my surroundings first. Not me, though. I dismiss it as left over feelings this body was used to feeling. I then get plunged into a memory, the last memory.

_I walk through the city, my head down, my hair covering my unscarred neck. _

All immediately detach from the memory. The colors are so vivid! Before I can brace myself for it, the memory comes back.

_I keep telling myself I'll be fine, but I know I'm lying to myself. I know I won't be fine. I'm living in New York City for crying out loud!_

What a strange thing to say, or think for that matter.

_I keep walking down the sidewalk, pulling my jacket collar up around my neck. As I get distracted by my jacket, I trip over something._

_I hear a few gasps and I feel a hand on my shoulder._

"_Are you alright, Miss?" I hear a voice ask. _ _Oh no. How could I let this happen? I stand up, messing with my hair so it falls over my neck and push up my sunglasses._

"_I'm fine. Just a little clumsy. This is my first body and I was only inserted a few days ago. I'm just not used to it is all," I casually lie to him. He looks about to say something, but I just keep walking, going faster than before._

_I turn down an alley to get to the other side of the city. I get to the edge when a huge hand spins me around to face him. Seeker. I punch him in the face, hitting his jaw and I run down the sidewalk, through traffic, trying to get away._

_I feel rather than hear him running after me. He knows I'm human. I don't stop until I get to an abandoned building. I run around to the back. There's a door with boards nailed over it. I see a broken window beside it. I crawl through, cutting my hand a little. I wipe it on my jeans and walk carefully away from the window. _

_I hear something hitting the door repeatedly, trying to break it down. I pull out my knife. The door breaks down and my knife goes across the Seeker's neck, cutting his head halfway off his body. His blood sprays out and covers me. _

I hear a piercing scream from inside my room. I start to get nervous. Why is my throat hurting so much?

_It's called screaming. _I hear a voice say. I stop 'screaming' as the voice said. _You were screaming from all the violence._

_Who are you?_ I ask, but I get no reply. I don't want to, but I have to go back into the violent memory that brought forth an unknown voice and a new word.

_I run the other way. As I run, I wipe the guilty tears off my face. I hit something hard and fall back on my butt. I look up, glaring at the monster I ran into. I stand up, knife in hand, when I feel huge arms wrap around my arms. I scream and elbow the monster in the ribs. It sucks in a breath and I wiggle loose, stabbing him, too. I turn to stab the other when I see four more have come to stand with it. I pull my leg back and kick the blonde girl in the nose. I hear a cracking noise. I hear the clicks of a gun. I freeze and see another girl pointing a pistol at me. I turn back around and smell raspberries as the blackness consumes me._

I'm released from the memory.I just lay there, taking in the violence these humans were prone to before we came. I kept going back to the memory of the Seeker's head hanging off his host body's neck. They couldn't save the soul inside. It sickened me, thinking this body had done something so awful.

"Are you sure?" I hear a deep voice whisper, but it echoes in the room.

"Positive. This soul was picked out specifically for this assignment. This one's a brave one," A higher voice says gently. "And she only screamed once, considering what happened getting her new host body," I hear one sigh in defeat.

"Ok, but shouldn't she be waking up by now?" the deep voice asks.

"Give her time to adjust, get used to all the emotions and calm herself from the violence, Tastes the Sun," It is silent. I don't hear anything else now, not even the mysterious voice in my head. Hopefully it'll go away. I take a few deep breaths and open my eyes.

I immediately close them again, rubbing them with my hands. It's so bright. I hear footsteps approach me. My instinct is to tense, but I over power it and keep rubbing my eyes.

"Welcome," The higher voice says. "I apologize for having placed you in a body with such a violent end, but you requested an adult and she was the first," I hope my eyes again, squinting, but these eyes have seen brighter light than this. "I'm sorry, would you like me to turn down the light for you?" I see an average height woman with bright blue eyes. Her hair is to her shoulders and is jet black. I can tell she is the Healer. She smiles at me, making me smile back. The voice in my head still stays silent. I wonder why.

"No thank you. My eyes will adjust to the lighting," Her smile grows bigger.

"Very good. What is your name?" I just stare at her. "You must have a name. Hmm," she says. Her right index finger rises to her lips as she thinks. Her face brightens up after a minute. "Considering your background on Blind World-"

"Blind World?" I ask. Her pretty face turns a little red.

"The Singing World, but that's a nickname for it," she clears her throat. "But considering your background on that planet, do you like Echo?" I think about it.

"What exactly does it mean?" I ask. She smiles again.

"Well, in Greek mythology, there was a nymph, which is like a spirit of nature, who loved a man. He talked to her, saying he loved her, and she had to say everything he said. When she couldn't say anything that she wanted to, he left her, causing her to get depressed and shrink until all that was left was her voice. If you say something in a cave, your voice echoes off the walls, like in here," I smile at this unique story.

"I like it," I say. I look over at another woman who just walked in. She smiles at me. I smile back and she walks over to the Healer. My Healer continues talking to me =, though.

"I'm Healer Dances with the Raindrops if you have any questions or concerns," She smiles and goes over to a desk with the lady. I look around the room. I'm in a hospital room, as my body called it. I see another soul in the room besides the kind woman who's talking to me. He walks up to me. Realization hits me like a slap to the face. He's a Seeker. I feel a rush of adrenaline run through me. A mixture of feelings consume me, anger, hatred, and fear. He smiles as the approach.

"Hello, Echo. I'm Seeker Running from the Fire," A smile appears on my face.

"Hello, Seeker," His smile brightens a little.

"You can call me Fire. If you want of course," He looks down, his cheeks red. I wonder why their cheeks are turning red.

_They're embarrassed. It's called blushing._ The voice has come back. I ignore it and go back to Running from the Fire.

"Hello, Fire," I say, making his face light up again. My body puts up a wall. A lot of walls. Everything in her mind is blocked off, including her thoughts. What did I do to her? Why is she still here?

_I Have a name, you know. _I search for it, trying to accommodate, but I can't get anything except my memories. What happened?

**Logan POV**

God, why was I stuck with this stupid ugly baby? What did I do? Ok, a lot of things, but I don't think I can stand this thing for very long at all if she flirts with every filthy parasite she sees.

I watch, glaring at everything even though she's making my body smile. The doctor, Healer thing comes back and leads us out of here, the stupid Seeker behind us. Why can't he leave us alone? He needs to get thrown off a cliff. I hope I'm the lucky bastard who gets to push him.

We go through a long hallway until we reach two huge glass doors. That Healer thing starts talking again.

"If you follow Seeker Running from the Fire, he will take you to your new apartment. Here is the address," We take it and look at it. _122 Grace Ave._ I know this road. My friend, Anny, used to live there. Of course, until the takeover happened. Then it was "Bye-bye, Anny and the rest of Humanity" unless you ran. Like me. And my dearest little Dylan. My baby sister.

We start walking again, in silence. Mine is grave, the beast inside of me is worried, but the beast beside me seems elated to be able to talk to it. We keep walking, the parasites making small talk, me trying to ignore them, until we get there. We walk inside to this very open room. There are a few openings in the walls, leading probably to the kitchen and bathroom.

"This is your new house. You can stay here until or unless you decide to move or partner and want a bigger place," I think he's hinting at wanting to partner up with her. He's disgusting me almost as much as this thing in me does.

"It's very nice," she replies as she walks us around the room. She opens a few doors and cabinets and walks back to where he was. "Thank you for bringing me here," she says. They smile and he makes an excuse to leave. We go back to the middle of the room and she spins us around. Big mistake.

I put down my wall. _STOP IT! I HATE SPINNING! _I shout. She cringes from my sudden anger.

_Why?_ She asks timidly. Like hell she's shy.

_Because my dad would spin around with me._ I answer coldly and go sit in a corner of my mind.

The mind she's trying to take over.

I think I faintly hear her say sorry.

**Echo POV**

_I'm sorry. Can you look that over and the fact that I'm in your body and tell me your name?_

_That Seeker is asking questions tomorrow. You're not getting anything from me._

I sit down on the couch, wondering why I'm not even given her name.

_You won't break me. You will never win._

_I just want your name!_

She hesitates.

_Logan. _She whispered. _Logan Woods. And you're Echo. Stuck together until my body dies._

I shudder. Can I get through this girl?


	2. Chapter 2

**I want you guys to know that I will post the next chapter of this and my next story when I can. Some days, I might post the next chapter to "Sweet Hearts" and some days, I might post the next chapter of this story. I thought you should know, because it takes me a while to figure out where I want to take my stories. Also, my little brother is in soccer right now (his first game was yesterday) and the games last an hour. By the time we get home, we're all tired, but I will write as much as I can, and I'll try to post the next chapter. Ok, continue!**

**Echo POV**

I stand up and walk towards the bathroom, assuming a mirror would be inside the door. I'm correct. I see bright red, long wildly curly hair, pale skin that's ghostly white and huge piercing green eyes. If I look closely, I can see the silver ring around the pupil.

_It's disgusting. It ruins everything that made me pretty. _Logan hisses. When she did this, some of her walls fell, letting information run wild though my head.

"I'm 17 years old from California, the outcast for my pale skin and red hair. When I was 11, my family moved to Scotland for my father who was in the military. They were taken over, but before they were, my still human mother sent me back to the United States. I moved from city to city, staying away from civilization as much as possible. But I needed food so I went to the closest city I hadn't seen, New York City. I was captured after putting up a pretty good fight. I knew no other human survivors," She sulks at me now knowing so much about what she's went through. I kind of want to help her.

_Yeah. Help me disappear._

_No, help you get through your depression._

_I DON'T HAVE DEPRESSION! DON'T YOU _EVER_ SAY THAT AGAIN! _She starts to sob,bringing tears to my eyes as well. I wipe them away and continue to look over my body.

_It's still MY body. I'm still here. You'll never be alone in here._

I'm probably around average height and have little hints of curves. I'm average weight, most likely. My fingers are long with long finger nails.

_Please don't cut my hair or my nails. I like them both long._

_I won't. I think it looks pretty._

She imagines me well, HER smiling.

My body would be perfect for a sundress. Logan shows me a picture of a sundress she had when she was 10. It was white with blue and green on it. I smile, hoping she'll like me. That makes her a little wary. I go to my closet in the bedroom and find a few pairs of pants and some shirts, but not any skirts or dresses. Logan gets a little sad.

_We can always go shopping._

_I get to choose what you buy. I've done it longer and know what will look good._

I smile. I think she's warming up to me.

_Not warming up to you. Getting my way as much as possible in my shitty situation. Since I'm stuck with you doing whatever you happy-go-lucky beasts do, I think I should get to choose our outfits._

I think about that for a minute.

_Ok._

She gets happy again.

_Let's go now. I want to wear a sundress tomorrow. It's supposed to be sunny._

And off we go to get some sundresses for Logan.

**Logan POV**

We start walking. I can tell it'll be a while so I check all my walls, making sure she's not getting anything I don't want her to yet. She says 'hi' to a few more parasites that we've never met before.

_You guys are freaks. Why would you talk to strangers? Don't you guys have your lunatics?_

_No, only humans did. And that was from drugs and alcohol. And bad parenting._

I mentally roll my eyes, even though I know it's true. I knew ten people who committed suicide when I was in school. I shudder, making her shudder, too.

_Why did you shudder? _She asks me in a whisper.

_I don't want you to see it, the images are very gruesome._

_And what exactly is 'it,' Logan?_

It takes all my control to not make her slap herself.

_Obviously, the suicides I remembered!_

_Oh._ She focuses on the street we're walking down. I can see the store lights from here. I have my Grandmother's bracelet still on my right hand and as she gets nervous, she twists it, an old habit of mine. She smiles at the older centipede behind the counter and walks us towards the clothes. I find ten sundresses, six sunhats, four pairs of sunglasses, four skirts, and three shirts.

She sits down my stuff on the counter and the thing starts to scan all my stuff.

_Our stuff. _She whispers.

_Whatever. But it's ME who's REALLY wearing it. _Thankfully, she says silent. The parasite hands us our stuff and we walk out the door.

It's starting to get dark and I realize we haven't eaten at all today.

_Let's stop to eat there._

I direct our head towards the fast food restaurant. We get all kinds of food, claiming it's all for a party, and get back to our house. We throw the clothes in the bedroom and run with the food to the table. We finish it all in 15 minutes.

We go take a shower and she braids our wet hair like I tell her to. She walks us to the bedroom and we sit there on the bed. She sighs.

_What's wrong?_

_I was just wondering...what…what will life be like with you being here…in my head?_

It's silent in my head now as I think about it.

_I'm not sure._

We sit there, silent again, thinking about our future.

**Echo POV**

I eventually start to yawn so I lie down and try to sleep. Logan gets bored and starts flipping through her memories.

_I stand in the woods, watching the sun set behind the trees. I climb up the tree beside me to keep watching it. The sun seems to get brighter and brighter as it gets smaller and smaller. The sky starts to change from the beautiful orange to a dark purple, to black. I lie on a sturdy branch once I can't see the sun anymore and close my eyes. A blood curtailing scream pierces through the night._

_Right beneath me. _

_I stand up slowly, making sure to keep my balance. I look down to be met with a human body leaning against my tree's trunk. I pulled my knife from my back pocket and bend down, squinting in the dark, trying to see._

"_If I take my hand away, will you scream?" I hear a deep male voice say. I see the female head shake in a 'no' motion. He takes his hand away slowly. I start to get nervous for the poor girl. She looks very young, but it might just be the way I'm looking at her. His hands move down her sides while she stands perfectly still. I think he smiles._

_I crawl off my branch to the branch from the tree beside mine. I freeze and look over at them, listening for any noise._

"_You're very pretty," I hear the male say. He makes me want to puke, the way he's touching her, talking to her. I start to crawl down the trunk, knife still in my hand. They don't notice me there yet, so I start to go a little faster. Nothing will happen to that girl, soul or human._

_I get to the bottom of the tree, slowly creeping up behind the guy. I get to where he is, still oblivious to my existence. I stab him in the arm, he screams out in pain. I rip my knife out and stab again, going deep into the back of his neck. I stab 3 more times until he falls at my feet, dying in a puddle of his own blood. I take the girl and we run about 30 minutes away from him until we stop. I pull out some water and give her some. She won't look me in the eye._

"_You're welcome," I say and I stand up, her following me._

"_W-where are you going? You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" She's looking at me now. I was right; she's young, very young. Maybe 13 years old with short, choppy hair, I can't see the color. She looks tan, even in the dark. Her hands are balled into fists at her sides._

"_I'm not forcing you to come. If you want to, you can, unless, of course, you're a soul," I turn and take a step and a half._

"_Wait," I turn to look at her. She's still in the shadows like she was a few seconds ago. She takes a deep breath and walks into the moonlight. Her hair is jet black and she looks like a Native American. She has a long, narrow nose and full pink lips, set in a stubborn expression. Her eyes are a light, bright blue, the color of ice. _Just _the color of ice. "I'm coming with you. You saved me and I have food and water. And weapons. I could have killed that guy if I wasn't frozen with fear. I would be the one dead if you didn't come. You are not leaving me alone in the middle of the woods," She smiles a little._

"_What's your name?" I ask. Her whole face lights up._

"_Dylan. Dylan Carter,"_

I wake up with a gasp.

"Dylan!" I say. "Dylan," I run to my notebook, grabbing a pencil and I run to my bed. I start to draw her round but thin face. Her narrow nose, the faint blush on her cheeks. Her piercing ice colored eyes.

_NO! YOU CAN'T! NOT DYLAN!_

The pencil is thrown across the room and the picture of Dylan is ripped out of the notebook and thrown in the fireplace. I watch the paper turn black and Dylan's face burn into the rocks.

_Why did you do that?!_ I can tell she's aggravated._ Of course I am! You said you wanted to help me, but you lied to me! YOU LIED TO ME! YOU, a SOUL! I don't think you're a soul! No, you're nowhere NEAR being considered a soul!_

She pauses for half a second.

_So this is the game you want to play, huh? Ok then, parasite._

She talks in a deadly calm voice to me.

_Game on._

My blood runs like ice through my body with the fear she's in lighted within me. She can't hurt me. She can't! She's a…a prisoner in her own head. There's nothing she can do to hurt me.

Or can she?

I hear laughter ring through my skull.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, if you don't read "Sweet Hearts," I'm posting the next chapter of this every other day. Two stories at once is hard, man. Don't worry! I'm not abandoning either story! I just needed to get a system worked out. And this was what I came up with. I want to thank my first reviewer, PeachButton, for the lovely review! I hope you like the rest of the story! So, you guys enjoy this! PS: I do use the dead souls in this chapter from "The Host," but, obviously, SM owns that. Duh. And yes, I'm a cheater. I have already broken my system. I WILL do this if I finish a chapter early so lucky for you guys!**

**Logan POV**

The parasite eventually fell into a nightmare. Yes, I caused it, but she had it coming! I give her one of the closest things I had in my life after the takeover, and she was going to tell that awful Seeker! And she promised she wouldn't! I think I might be rubbing off on her.

I pick through my brain, looking at everything to see what would freak her out the most. I see the greatest thing for this BEAST. She can go to Hell. Hope she's happy. This will teach her to not mess with me. EVER again.

**Echo POV**

_As I run, feeling the adrenaline pulse through my veins, I search through my head. No Logan. I wonder where she is. I hear a scream. I turn to see Dylan, her hair behind her ears, staring at me, her eyes wide open._

"_Dylan!" I scream. She closes her eyes. A smile spreads onto her face. Her face starts to fill in more and her cheeks blush red. Her skin is clear of any blemishes and she opens her eyes._

_The beautiful ice color has a silver ring adding more beauty to the color. I scream and go backwards a little, hitting a table. When I look, I feel like puking. I smell something. It seems familiar, but I can't quite place what it is. I look down at the table._

_Souls are splattered everywhere, their guts lining the walls of what is now becoming a hospital room. There are three Healers beside the table, staring at me. One has a scalpel in her hand. She pulls the mask down. Dylan._

"_Dylan! How could you do this?" I start to sob. "How could you do this to me? Why? I know this isn't you, but you did it anyway. WHY?" I start sobbing harder and screaming unintelligible words. She walks over to me, her eyes cold._

"_It's your turn. I want Logan back, but I can't get her back. So, I'll get rid of you to make it even, since you got rid of her. Everything goes black._

I sit up in bed, sweating like crazy. I'm panting.

_Logan! Why did you do that to me?_

_Sor-ry! But I can't help it when YOU have a BAD DREAM!_

_Do you WANT me to tell the Seeker about her?_

_Why the HELL would I want that? _I sigh in frustration.

_You're being childish, Logan. Let me live in peace and I won't tell the Seeker anything._

_Bullshit. BULLSHIT! Every promise you make is BULLSHIT!_

_You're giving me a headache. Calm down, please._

_You deserve worse than a headache. You took me away from Dylan. I'll make you suffer for it._

I choose to ignore her and I look at the clock. 8:17 AM. I guess I can get up.

_I use to sleep until 12:30 on the weekends._

_Well, I'm not. It's morning now, so I will get up and start my day._

_OUR day. I hope she's not going to stay this bitter. I don't know if I can deal with this much bitterness inside my head all day every day._

_You'll get used to it._

I sigh and start eating my cereal. I feel Logan put up a wall. Curious, I push the wall, but it's solid as a rock.

_What are you hiding?_

I get no reply.

**Logan POV**

I make sure my wall is strong and start thinking. Thinking on ways to get back to Dylan. My sweet, sweet Dylan. My little sister. Mine.

I get an idea and put my wall down to see if it will work.

_I hope you know, no matter what I show you, everything is MINE._

She nods. I would nod, but I don't control my body right now so I'll save it for if I can ever control it. I throw memories of Dylan at her.

"_Can we stop here? There's a river so we can take a bath. I really need one," We've been walking for days near the Canadian border. We only stop at night and by then, we're too tired for a bath. It's still a little light out. I nod and she jumps up. "Yeah!" I chase her down the hill. We strip and jump in the cool river water._

"_Ah," Dylan sighs along with me. We really needed this. I already feel more relaxed, and I can see she is, too. I close my eyes and sink under water. I open my eyes and see all the dirt and grime wash away._

_I come back up to see Dylan swimming down the river._

"_Where are you going?" I holler at her. She laughs._

"_To the other side!" She screams back. I laugh, rolling my eyes, and swim after her._

**Echo POV**

The memory made me smile. Then I remember that I can't have that. And neither can Logan. I feel tears start to come. But she wants to torture me, so she throws another memory at me, wanting me to miss her.

_I hold Dylan's sleeping form in my arms. I can't seem to fall asleep. I don't really know why, though. I haven't slept good in days. Dylan starts to move._

"_Hey, go back to sleep. Big day of travel tomorrow. You need to rest up, gain some energy," She sits up, completely ignoring my soft tone. She gives me her stubborn look, sticking her bottom lip out just a hair._

"_No. Not until we talk about what's been bugging you all week," She crosses her legs and grabs my hands. I sigh, crossing my legs, never letting go of her hands. "Now, what's on your mind, Logan?"_

"_I feel..I don't know. Tired of the constant movement in our lives. I want you to be a kid. I don't want you to have to worry about everything. I want you to have a childhood," I look down at our intertwined hands. She moves her hands up and I look into her hypnotizing eyes._

"_I think the nomadic life is getting to you," I just stare at her. She rolls her eyes at me. "Think about it! You've never moved ANYWHERE before the takeover and all of a sudden, you're walking very long distances all alone, with hardly any food. I big change from your small East Tennessee town, Logan," I smile with her._

"_When did you get so wise?" Her smile grows._

"_I've always been smart, you make me smarter, though," I laugh with her. She lays on top of me and I shove her off of me. She lands on her side beside me and we laugh at our stupidity. I wrap my arms around her and we fall asleep, content to have each other._

The tears are spilling out into my cereal bowl. She's smug, glad to make me cry.

_It's all your fault! Now I ache for her, too!_

_Not YOU, ME and MY body._

I push my chair back, putting my empty bowl in the sink. I get the sundress, hat and shoes Logan wants on and go out the door. Logan will not stop me, no matter how much she wants to, I am determined and strong. I go down the street until I see the building.

I'm going to the Seeker.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there, reader! So, not much to say today. So sorry for not publishing sooner. Fanfiction wasn't working and wouldn't load. Stupid gym is making me play soccer. Gag me. Ok, enough of this. You can continue now! =)**

**Logan POV**

_Oh NO you are NOT! There is no chance in HELL you're going to the Seeker!_

I search through my mind, and it starts getting so nervous we're shaking. I try to break through, but I can't get past her. I scream in frustration, making her cringe from the sound.

_You know what? Fuck you. FUCK! YOU! YOU HEAR ME, BITCH? FUCK YOU!_

_Please stop. We're almost there and the more you scream at me, the more you make me decide to turn you and Dylan in._

There were no words to describe my anger. She walked us into the building and I glared at everything she turned our head to look at. If I was in control, I'm 99.9% sure that smoke would be coming from my ears.

We get to a desk and a few minutes later, the Seeker comes over to us, leading us to a room. She motions for us to sit at this long desk. She stands in front of us for a little bit, studying our outfit.

"That's a very pretty dress, Echo," She smiles at us and it smiles with her.

"Thank you, Seeker," The Seeker clears her throat.

"Have you found anything from her memories yet, Echo?" My head shakes 'no' and I want to smile.

"I've found nothing yet, Seeker. I'll keep trying, though. Her walls might take a while to wear down," The Seeker says something under her breath. I laugh in my head.

_Thank you so much._

_I love her, too. I would never give her away. Or you, of course._

It's silent inside and out of my head.

_I take back what I said. That you're not a soul. You ARE good, you just made a mistake and everyone makes them. I've made plenty of them._

_Thank you for that. And I shouldn't have done that to you. Any of it. I shouldn't have come and taken your body, or draw Dylan, or come here today, even though it was a scheduled thing._

I laugh a little in my head, making a small smile appear on my face. Thankfully, the Seeker had her back turned so she didn't see. Then, she spins around on her heel to face us.

"Are you hiding anything? Anything at ALL, Echo?" We stare at her.

_We need to work on your lying skills._

_Agreed._

She shakes our head. The Seeker sighs.

"Well, try harder, Echo. We need to capture all the humans," We shudder and stand up, walking towards the door, following the Seeker. We leave the building in a daze and go towards our house. She's thinking about Dylan and I feel her guilt for lying.

_Hey, don't feel guilty. You're a good soul._

_Thank you._

**Echo POV**

_I still can't believe I did that!_

_Relax! You know, we've got 10 minutes to get to your office. OH! I HAVE AN IDEA! LET'S PLAYIN YOUR ROLLY CHAIR!_

_No, Logan. I have to focus on my Calling, being a Comforter._

_*eye roll* God you souls and your jobs. You're too serious about them. Humans would slack off, at least a little and have some fun. You're wasting my life._

_OUR life._ I whisper.

I sigh and walk into my office, smiling at the other souls. I sit my purse down beside my desk and sit in my chair. I feel Logan get…excited? Why?

_I LOVE rolly chairs. Their so AMAZING!_

I laugh a little at her. She sends me an eye roll.

_What's with you and rolling your eyes?_

_I was kind of little when you guys came here. Bratty, so to speak._

I laugh in my head.

_I can tell that you didn't break that habit._

She laughs with me. The intercom buzzes.

"**Comforter Echo, your patient is on her way," **The secretary, Flying Through the Sky, says.

"Thank you," I say and she hangs up. I hear a knock on the door. "Come in!" I say cheerfully. In comes a gentle-looking girl, the fear evident in her body language. I smile gently. She relaxes a little. I motion to the chairs.

"Sit where you want," She smiles a little and takes the chair closest to the window. I sit across from her.

"What's your name?" I ask her. She looks up and I smile, encouraging her to speak. She takes a deep breath.

"Sings Through the Night," I smile. I have a fellow Bat.

"I lived on the Singing World, too, you know," She looks up again. I've sparked her interest. "You can call me Echo," She looks me full in the face now. She has a full round face and full baby shaped lips. Her big eyes are an odd color. They're an ocean-blue with a hint of turquoise. The silver around her pupils mix beautifully and shine in the sunlight.

Logan sighs.

_What's wrong?_

_It's just that the girl's body must be about Dylan's age. I hope she's still human. The body means nothing without her._

I sigh inwardly and focus on Sings Through the Night. She's smiling at me.

"You can call me Sings. That's what they called me on the Singing World," I smile with her. I start asking her questions about herself.

"When did you get here?"

"I was inserted I think two days ago. The emotions are so hard to control!" I laugh with her.

"I was recently inserted, too. The emotions are quite unstable, aren't they?" We laugh for a while until she becomes serious.

"Echo…" I smile reassuringly, motioning for her to continue. "Is…is it normal for your body to…to THINK. Like, talk to you?" I stare at her, shocked it's not just Logan who's still present. Logan is, too. But she's more excited than anything. Sings lets her head fall in her hands. "She talks to me still. She didn't leave when I came. What should I do?" I put my hand on her shoulder and she looks up at me, frustrated tears in her eyes.

"I haven't told anyone, but my host is still here, too," Her face has a flash of happiness and excitement, but flashes back to nervous. What was that about?

"Has she taken control of your body? Harper has. That was her a second ago," her head falls back in her hands and when she looks up at me, silent tears are gently sliding down her face. I hand her a tissue and she wipes them away, obviously angry with herself for showing weakness.

"Logan hasn't taken control of my body," _Yet. _I hold back a shudder. "but I can tell she's strong, like Harper is in you," She stares at the spot above my head, refusing to look me in the eye. I wouldn't want to either. Her breaths are shaky from most likely trying hard not to sob. "I know it's hard, I'm going through it, too. We can get through it together, though. If you want to, of course," She looks at me, eyes filled with hope. "You can talk to me any day. ME, not your Comforter, but your friend," I smile at her. She sits there a few seconds, probably talking to Harper. Logan gets jittery.

_What now? Wouldn't it be nice to know another resistant host?_

_No! Maybe I don't want to meet other people!_

I get an idea.

_You're jealous! You want to be the only person I know!_

_That's not true at all! I think your little 'friend' here wants to tell you something._

_What?_

But she's gone. I look up to see fingers waving in front of my face.

"Echo? Are you ok?" I blink twice and look at her, my face turning red."I'm sorry. Logan was talking to me. What did you say?" She smiles.

"I would like to be your friend. Harper wants to get to know Logan. Do you think that…that you could let her through?" She looks down. I smile at her and close my eyes, trying to guide Logan into control.

_I don't know where to go._

_Here, Logan._

I try to guide her, but she can't get through. I sigh and open my eyes. I see an expectant Sings in front of me. I shake my head.

"She can't get through. She's either not strong enough or I'm too strong," We sigh, but start to talk some more. At one point, Logan wanted to talk to Harper.

_Hi, how'd you get caught?_

"She was found robbing a store," I nod for Logan.

_I went to New York City and stabbed a few Seekers in a warehouse. Cut this one guys neck to were his head was only half way on his body. I also broke this one girl's nose._

They shared in their pride over how well they went down, how hard they fought and still fought. They eventually got tired and Logan hid behind a new wall. I tried to get past it, but it was strong. It probably took all her energy to keep it up.

Sings and I stand up and we walk out of the building, still talking to each other. We get to my house and I invite her inside. We go in and I make some hot tea (the good kind. It's called Pumpkin Spice. Yum!) for us. She takes it and we sit in silence as we drink our tea. She sits her cup down forcefully and stands up, a look of accomplishment on her face. I sit mine down more calmly.

"Sings? Oh are you Harper?" She rolls her eyes.

"No, I'm Betty. Of course I'm Harper!" I cringe at how loud she is. Logan is suddenly pounding on my head.

_Let me out! LET ME OUT!_

_No! I'm in control. Not you, Logan._

She groans and steadily pounds my head. I knead my head as Harper rants on and on about something. I don't really know what she's saying, I don't really hear her. The world starts to go black around the edges and I see spots.

_Logan, stop._

She doesn't stop. She speeds up and hits me harder. The spots are growing and multiplying and my back hits something hard.

_Oh God, Harper's beating me now, too._

I see Harper's face turn from irritation to fear.

And everything goes to darkness.

**Logan POV**

_Holy shit! Echo? Echo. ECHO! WAKE UP! OPEN OUR EYES! I NEED TO FIND OUT WHERE THEY ARE! Stupid parasite. Have to do everything myself._

I search through my head, trying to get through her and gain my body back. Shit, I can't get past her. Fuck her. I start to pound on my head again, hoping and praying that'll wake her up. She better wake up. It's my body, after all and I'm not going down yet. Not until we find Dylan.

And keep her human.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, reader! So, I started reading "The Mortal Instruments City of Bones" and I'll have to admit, I like it much more than I thought I would. I think Clary has her moments of stupidity, but what main character doesn't? (If you can answer my question, please tell me!) This chapter is a little shorter, but the next one is more exciting, I promise! Ok, enjoy!**

**Echo POV**

I woke up, keeping my eyes closed, my head throbbing. Logan sighs and the pounding stops.

_Thank GOD. I've been waiting for, like, 20 minutes. _I thought about that for a second.

_Why didn't you take control then?_

_I tried, but I couldn't get past you. By then way, Sings and Harper moved us somewhere when you passed out. And I guess… I'm…I'm sorry, ok?!_

I feel my lips tug up into a faint grin at her words.

_It's fine, you didn't know. _She feels a little guilty. _What?_

_Well, I kind of thought if I made you pass out, I could break through. I obviously can't, though._ She distanced herself, checking her walls, floating around aimlessly._ Sorry for that._

_Hey, it's fine, ok? I'm fine, you're fine, it'll be ok._ She sighs and disappears. My curiosity got the best of me and I was about to open my eyes.

_Curiosity killed the cat._ Logan whispers and leaves again. I pause, thinking over her words, then open them anyways.

It's dark, like I never opened my eyes. I blink, making sure I did open them, which I did and I get confused. I feel I'm on a flat surface, most likely a floor, but near my feet, the ground is softer.

_Probably carpet. I don't think they would take us out of the house. Most likely, it's night time and we're in our bedroom._

_That's…very impressive._

_I do memorize my surroundings, whereas YOU don't._

_Why are you being so cold all of a sudden? _She's silent for a minute.

_I'm just aggravated. I don't get that human's intentions. I can understand you parasites, but human's, I fear, are starting to become a mystery._

I sigh as she goes to the back of my mind, flipping through memories she's locked away from me. I hear footsteps to my right, a few feet away. I freeze, scared of what I might see. You know, if I could see. Logan chuckles a little.

"Echo? Are you ok?" I relax, knowing it's just Sings.

"I'm fine. Why is it so dark in here?" I hear her walking around me, I think to the window. She pulls back the curtains and opens the blinds. The light blinds me and I immediately close them tight, covering them with my hands, too. She giggles a little and I hear some movement and see the light get dimmer. I move my hands and open my eyes. I can actually see her, now.

She smiles, a faint blush on her face and I smile back. She clears her throat.

"I didn't know what happened when you passed out. Harper looked over you, but I got in control before she could do something to hurt you. I tried to get you in the bed, but I'm kind of weak from my lazy days of no exercise. I brought you some food," Her face just got redder as she went to my nightstand and picked up a plate and hands it to me.

I look at it and see she made me pancakes, eggs, and bacon. My stomach growls and I start to eat my bacon.

"Woah! At least let me help you to the table!" I laugh with her and we walk to the table. I keep eating my bacon, though. We sat down across from each other and she watched me as I ate, silent as a wall. I finished eating and she took my plate and put it in the sink, giving me a glass of milk. I thanked her and chugged it down. She laughed a little and put that in the sink with my plate. She sat down and stared at a spot above my head, neither one of us speaking. She clears her throat.

"I want to apologize for Harper and her crazy antics. She's very lively, as I'm sure you've noticed," Her face goes red again, but she doesn't look at me. "I'm thinking about getting reinserted into a different host," I gasp.

"If you do, Harper will be discarded," Logan and I shudder. I think Sings cringes a little.

"I'm just not as strong as her. If I don't, she could beat me, completely take control and leave me trapped inside her. I don't want that to happen!" She starts to cry and I reach towards her. I feel Logan's anger run through my body, but I ignore it and pat Sings' shoulder, whispering reassurances.

_She doesn't deserve your kindness. She's going to kill Harper, another being. Sounds a lot like what you ALL do._

_Except me, considering I'M not wanting out and the last time I checked, you're still here._ I realized that I snapped at her. Guilt floods through me. _I'm sorry, that was uncalled for._

_No. NO! It WASN'T! This is what I want. I want AN ARGUMENT! Something your alien bitches need to learn to have. _She disappears again, filled with anger at my species, and I understand her anger. _No you don't. Not really. You don't understand the pain I went through, watching my world go from thriving, to gone in the blink of an eye. I found Dylan and I thought my world was put back together. But then, you come and take me away from her, leaving her stranded, to fend for herself!_ She punches my skull a few times, enough to make my head ache, and leaves, anger still flowing through her. Guilt washes through me.

_I'm sorry, Logan._ I get an idea, the most brilliant idea. _What if… what if we find her? Like go to her?_

_Where do you think she is? Where would we find her? _I can tell she's withholding things, her secrets. I still haven't broken her. _You never will. Unless you take me to Dylan. I highly doubt you'll do that, parasite._

She hisses and directs her attention to Sings, obviously talking to Harper. I smile a little at her. Logan stays serious, but I can tell she's curious about their conversation. Sings looks up at me.

"Harper wants to go to-" She breaks off, cringing most likely from something Harper said or did. "To the other humans. She knows where there should be others. And if there's someone Logan thinks might be there, you can come, too," I turn my attention to a very suspicious Logan.

_Should we go with them?_

_I don't know. They're still strangers to us, I don't know their action patterns. I only know Harper tends to over react and rant about things. I don't know about the parasite._

_She's just another every day soul, nothing out of the ordinary. Unless, of course, you count her resistant host. _Logan chuckles.

_I think that makes her out-of-the-ordinary. Well, it does in my standards._

_So are we going with them? _Logan hesitates, thinking it all through before she answers. She sighs and I sense my victory.

_Why not? There's always the possibility of finding Dylan there. I'll take whatever I'm given in my predicament. _I chuckle out loud and focus on Sings pleading eyes.

"Why not? What do we have to lose?" Sings smiles really big and hugs me across the table. I smile with her, even Logan chuckles at her girly enthusiasm.

I might even find Dylan.

_YOU won't. Only me. You just happen to be the centipede I'm stuck with, preventing me and the extensive search I will do until we die._

_I won't die, Logan. Only you. I can change my host body, whereas you can't. _Her evil laughter echoes through my skull, gently vibrating my thoughts.

_Oh you silly, little body snatcher. You won't be switching bodies. You're stuck with me. You can't get a Healer in the middle of nowhere. Which means that you will die when I die. Good luck, filthy beast, getting rid of me. That will NEVER happen._

She laughs again, but louder, making my whole skull shake. My blood runs cold from the fear she's thrown me into.

Is there any way to get put into another body before I'm dragged away?


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys! So, I really want some more reviews for this story. I KNOW that there's more than one reader of this story, but I get NO feedback. So, please tell me what you guys think of this story. Please tell me. I feel like no one likes it. It won't kill you to say you hate this or love it. I mention "Jane Eyre" because I recently finished it for, like, the 6****th**** time and I just love the story. And, considering there isn't really any violence in it, I thought the souls would allow it to be kept. Ok, go on. And why don't you do me a favor and write a review and click the button *hint hint, wink wink***

**Sings POV**

I let go of Echo and I give her my number and address. I wave at her as I walk down the sidewalk.

_It's all going to plan._ Harper says, clearly happy that I'm going to find Bronwyn. _WE'RE going to find her. You will NOT be the only one to find her. Don't ever think anything different._ I sigh at how difficult she is.

_Ok, Harper. YOU'LL find her, not me. Even though I control this body-_

_You don't control it. Not really. Deep down, you KNOW I really control MY body. This will never be yours and you will NEVER be fully in control._ I sigh and walk to the coffee shop down the street. I get a pumpkin spice latte and go to the bookstore. When I walk in, I immediately go to the classics area and pick up "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte and sit down at a table. I pull my phone out and plug my ear buds into it, turning on some instrumental music on as I begin to read on page 54, where I left off.

**Echo POV**

"_I'M LOGAN!" I scream at the top of my lungs into the canyon. My parents laugh behind me. I turn around really fast. "Did you hear it? The canyon ANSWERED ME!" I exclaim. "It's name is Logan, too!" My mother laughs as she picks me up and puts me on her hip. She takes my father's hand and we walk to the edge again. I smile as I see the beautiful colors of all the different layers of rock._

~Line Break~

"_And you're SURE it's safe?" my mother asks the dude running the zip line for the 50__th__ time. He nods, laughing a little._

"_I'm sure, Miss," She nods, but I can tell she doesn't fully believe him._

"_Ok, then. Logan, hold on to it and don't let it go. It's your lifeline if the harness breaks," I nod, feeling the thrill and adrenaline course through my veins. I smile as the guy pushes me. I ignore my mother's advice and let go of the harness, my arms spread out like wings, and I start to laugh._

_I look at the Grand Canyon, and I realize then, I wanted to be outside forever. I never wanted to leave._

Logan sighs as she ends the memory.

_I got my wish. I never left the outdoors. We walk around outside every day. I lived outside when I was on the run. I wish Dylan could have done that. It was so much fun._

_Maybe she did. Remember when you snuck into Sea World the year you found Dylan? Maybe she went to the Grand Canyon after you were taken. _By the end, my voice was just a faint whisper. She sighs and I blink a few times. I look up and see the sun is setting. I stand up from the lawn chair in the back yard that I've been in for who knows how long and stretch my soar mussels. I bend down to pick up my sunglasses from where they fell when I freeze in my position.

Over the fence of my little house, there's a girl, possibly in her twenties, staring daggers at me the way only a human could. I couldn't see what she looked like, except dark skin and curly jet black hair. She blinks and walks past, not looking back. Logan throws up multiple walls, blocking even her thoughts.

_What is it? Do you know her?_ She doesn't answer. _Logan, please tell me._

_Shut UP! I'm trying to think. _I cringe at her volume, but pick up my sunglasses and walk back inside. I start to worry. Why was she staring at me? Am I supposed to remember her? Why won't Logan let me know who she is. Or was, possibly. Logan sighs, letting her walls down. I gasp at who this girl was.

Dylan has found me.

Logan sighs from irritation. _She found US, ok?! You might be in control, but I DO exist in here, got it?! _I nod, knowing that she needs to calm down before I ask her questions. I walk through the living room, wandering aimlessly through the house. I look through each window as I pass, looking for Dylan, but I have no such luck. I sigh when I get back to the living room for the third time and fall on the couch. Logan remembers doing that after coming home from a long day at school. I sigh again, which I seem to be doing a lot lately.

_I'm sorry, Logan. I took everything from you guys._

_Not you, specifically. Just…your species._ She said it with the least amount of hate I think she could have, though it was clearly in her voice. I smile slightly.

_Thank you. _I hear something near the door and I freeze. It's gone in seconds. I'm confused by it and start to walk to the door.

_No, just go to bed, ok? _I can tell she's hiding something, but I listen to her. I change into some pajamas and wrap myself in the covers, making a cocoon. Logan throws me a memory from her childhood.

_The TV turned off._

"_Hey!" I turn around sharply to see my dad, remote in hand, a look of excitement on his face. "Why did you do that?" He laughs and sits the remote on the coffee table, picking me up and carrying me into my room. My mom is standing at my closet and turns around to see my dad put me down. My mom smiles at me._

"_Do you want to play soccer, Logan?" My mom smiles when she asks, already knowing the answer. I run to my closet._

"_Of COURSE I do!" They laugh as I push them out the door to get my shorts and tank top on. I pick up my cleats and tennis shoes and run to the living room, where my mom picks up the two Barbie dolls I ever really wanted. She smiles bigger when she sees me sitting down and putting my cleats on._

"_Your father is getting some shorts on and he'll rake you when he's ready, ok?" I nod._

"_Ok, mom," She smiles and walks out of the room. Seconds later, my dad comes in, his terribly hideous plaid shorts on and helps me up. I laugh at him and yell 'bye' to my mom. We get in the car and go to play soccer, my favorite thing._

_When we get there, apparently, there was a game going on so we got to watch them play. The players look to be a little older than me, so most likely 18. The whole game is being dominated by these two guys, probably brothers. One is slightly taller, but other than that, they look to be twins. The taller one had a crooked nose._

_The shorter one was racing down the field and looked up at his brother. He kicked it and the tall one passed it back to him. They did this a few times before the shorter one kicked it in the goal. The goalie didn't even see it coming._

_The right field erupted in cheers of happiness and excitement. The brother chest bumped each other and they ran to the sidelines. The taller one picked this small woman-looking girl and spun her around. He kissed her and the shorter one laughed with a few guys that surrounded him._

_Everyone got off the field as I walked onto it. I looked at my dad and he threw the ball to me. I bounced it off my head in the direction of his goal and ran, fast as lightning, as he says, and kicked it farther down the field. I heard his heavy footfalls getting closer behind me. I pushed myself faster and harder and kicked the ball as hard as I could. I saw the ball soar through the air and he stopped to watch it. It went in and I laughed._

_I ran to get the ball and threw it at him. He smiled and kicked it hard towards my goal. I wasn't going to let him make it anywhere near my goal so I ran hard after it. I eventually passed him, but I felt him hot on my trail. I kicked it to the right and ran towards his goal, but he knew I would do that. He stood in front of me, trying to get to the ball._

_I got beside him and picked the ball up with my feet, tossing it in the air and bouncing it off my head again. He laughed._

"_YOU DID IT, LOGAN!" he shouted at me, making me laugh, even as he chased me down the field. "YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!" I couldn't believe it, either. It had taken weeks of practice to get that one, but it felt like an instinct, doing that._

_I knew I could do it._

I woke in my bed, covered in sweat. It was as if I had actually done that move, watched that game. Logan sat in the back of my head, pride running through her, but unimaginable grief tearing through, burning her pride like a wild fire in a forest. I felt the tears come to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

_Daddy. My daddy. He's gone._ She started to sob in my head, making it very difficult to hold the tears back. I small sob escaped my mouth and that was all it took. The tears poured down my cheeks and the sobs shook my small body. I tried, but I just couldn't calm down. The grief and pain couldn't be held back any longer. The years of grief and anger flew through my body, not letting me go.

I could hear the lightning outside. My sobs got quieter as I stood up and looked through the window. I saw a storm, almost like a hurricane, blowing down the street. Lightning pierced the sky, while the thunder shook the ground beneath my feet.

_Get some clothes on! Pack some necessities in a bag and get us out of here! _I moved in a daze, packing extra clothes in a duffel bag I found at the bottom of the closet. I threw a few more pairs of shoes in, too, and ran to the kitchen. I put all the water I could find and some snack foods. I went back to my room and put on a black t-shirt, jeans, and some black tennis shoes. I ran a brush through my disheveled hair and put it in my bag, along with my makeup. Logan sent a picture of me-her, really- rolling her eyes.

_Those things are NOT necessities. I doubt you know what I'm talking about._

_Of course I do. I've got water, don't I? _She rolled her eyes again and stayed silent.

I picked up the bag and put on my black North Face jacket. I walked out the door.

_We should get Sings and Harper, Logan._ She sighed.

_Fine. But if you guys start to complain, we are NOT coming back. _I stopped in my tracks.

_We're not?_

_Why would we? Did you REALLY want to stay? Did you REALLY want to keep telling the Seeker lies about having no information? _I sighed and continued to walk down the sidewalk. I started to walk faster, hoping that Sings was ok. I turned the corner onto Sings' street and started to her house, now in my line of sight.

I felt a cloth go over my nose and mouth and a foul smell overpowered all my senses.

_It's called chloroform._

_What does it do? _Logan sighs.

_It makes you sleep._

I close my eyes, but not without seeing a face in front of me. I couldn't see the features, but I would know those ice blue eyes anywhere.

_Dylan._ I think before blackness is everywhere.


	7. Chapter 7

**I changed the picture for this story. She's the closest I could get to my image of Logan. My Logan had prettier eyes. I also changed the picture for "Sweet Hearts." The locket will be important! I will introduce some new characters in this chapter! Just so you know, I wrote and posted a fiction story on on the 27****th**** called "Rogue." It's categorizes as Young Adult if you want to read it. Ok, read…NOW!**

**Dylan POV**

I sigh, remembering the lonely days that have passed by without her beside me. I really wish I had my sister back. With its eyes closed, it looks like Logan's just asleep. I sigh again and whistle through my teeth. I can't carry her all the way there. I might be strong, but I'm still just 16 for God's sake.

**Sings POV**

_Wake UP you bitch!_

I blink a few times and the curses stop, or get less insulting than before.

_It's storming pretty bad out there. You should fill a bag with water, clothes, and tennis shoes._

I sigh and get up. It looks like a hurricane or something out there. I put on a t-shirt and some jeans along with a pair of tennis shoes. I pack everything Harper told me to, but I threw in a hair brush.

_Vanity is a sin._

_Well, I don't want an afro._

_Good point._

I walk out the door and see some men dressed all in black like me picking up someone. I see a flash of red hair.

"Echo!" I yell and I start to run to her. All their heads snap up at me. The light shone on their faces.

Humans. About 10 of them.

Harper was ecstatic to see that many of her species thriving.

_I figured there were, like, 3 or four others out there. Never would I have thought so many were still human._

She started to bounce around my head, trying to break through. I wouldn't let her, not this time. They could kill me if I start to act weird, which would be killing her, too. That stopped her short. She stayed silent as I walked closer to them. I stopped in front of Echo, looking down at her sleeping form. I wonder why she was coming this way.

A sudden pain hits me, but I can't really place where it hurts. I fall forward, but arms and hands catch me before I land on Echo. I close my eyes, but hear a little of their heated conversation.

_It's called an argument._

Yes, that. Harper strains to hear, but we're slowly blacking out so we only hear bits and pieces.

"…think it's a good idea to bring them both? Why don't we kill this one and take the redhead,"

"No, we're not killing it. We'll just take them both…"

Blackness consumes me, leaving me wondering where I'm going.

**Echo POV**

I wake to a low rumbling. It seems to be coming from far off, but it must be loud if it's so far away. Thunder pounds the sky and I jump, hitting my head on something. I hear a curse. I blink a few times in the dark and see a figure a few inches from me.

It seems to be male, considering the deep voice. Though, it could be female. Logan knew a woman with a very deep voice once. A light slowly grows beside the figure. It is a male, maybe early-twenties, with shaggy possibly blonde hair. His eyes are a beautiful color, possibly teal. His skin looks yellow in the light. His brows are scrunched together, either from pain or irritation. His arms are very muscular, earned by hours of hard work.

He scowls when he catches me studying him. Logan is determined to meet his gaze, making me hold my head higher, almost from pride. Confusion flickers in his eyes, but quickly disappears. He looks at me, up and down. I feel a slight breeze blow through, blowing strands of hair in my eyes. I want to move it.

_No. Make him think I'm beautiful._

_*cough* WE'RE beautiful._

_Oh, right._

I send her an image of an eye roll and she laughs a little.

_That's the first time you've ever done something like that._

_You ARE stuck in my head. Did you actually think I wouldn't pick up some of your habits?_

She laughs a little again and pays more attention to the mysterious man in front of us. He's messing with the lantern again, making it brighter and lighting the space up. I look around to see we're surrounded by mud, dirt, and rocks. It looks like we're underground. My curiosity peaks and I look back to him. He's studying me very intently, with a certain degree of curiosity and hatred in his look. I look back around the little 'cubicle,' so to speak.

I hear some shuffling towards the right and see another lantern coming closer. I see a girl this time. She scowls at me and I crawl back, hiding as best I can in the lone corner as far from them as possible.

"Atlas, we need you back up there," Atlas sighs, clearly agitated.

"Why now? To look at the map that no one can understand? We've had it for, what, 5, 6 years? No one that's come here understands it. Why keep trying?" She rolls her eyes and sits down beside him. With them together like that, they look alike. I wonder if they're siblings.

_Most likely. I wouldn't count on finding out, though._

_I know. They probably want to kill Sings and I._ I gasp internally. _Where is she?_

_I don't know…maybe in another cubicle thingy?_

_I hope she's not dead._ I shudder, thinking about all the ways they could kill us. Maybe they tried to take her out of Harper. Or maybe they have dogs and fed her to them. I start to shake.

_They wouldn't do that. They probably just shot her. If they killed her, that is._

"This time could be it. We could find them. It's not a waste of time-"

"If you don't have any idea what it even IS, you're wasting your time," She sighs at how stubborn he's being. Why wouldn't he want to read a map? His name IS Atlas.

_That's what I'd like to know._

They stare down each other. Finally, Atlas sighs.

"What about-" He nods in my direction, making me cringe. She rolls her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm going to stay down here,"

"Ok, just don't talk to it. It doesn't deserve it. It took away our family, Phyre. Don't talk to it," He stands up, ruffling her hair a little, making her roll her eyes. She doesn't respond to what he said, though. After he goes, I sit in silence with Phyre, wondering what kind of map they couldn't figure out.

"I'm Phyre, obviously," I look up to see she stuck her hand out, towards me. I point to my chest. She laughs a little. "Yes, you," She thrusts he hand closer to me. I lift my hand, but Logan is being wary, which makes me stop midair.

_What is it?_

_What if…what if we start to trust her, and she lets them kill us._ We think this over while Phyre stares at us, curiosity and kindness written all over her face and in her eyes. I take her hand, making her smile. It wasn't until around the third shake that I realized that I really did trust her. Logan didn't, though.

"Do you have a name? Your friend does, but she didn't tell me your name," I smile a little, glad that Sings wasn't killed.

_Yet._ Logan is aggravated that I'm not more wary of this girl. I choose to ignore it. I clear my throat, dry and rough like the desert.

"I'm Echo," Her face lights up.

"That's an awesome name," I smile.

"Not as cool as Phyre," Her face brightens. "How'd you get it?"

"Well, when my mom was pregnant with me, she was always cold. So, when I was born with a colder temperature than normal, she names me Phyre, which means fire," She had a sad smile on her lips as she stared behind me. "We would bake cookies together when I was little. For my 8th birthday, I wanted to be a princess. She went and bought me 18th century French dresses, wigs, makeup, you know, all that stuff. She made me look like a French princess and treated me like one, too. I got diamond jewelry and everything. She said she did all that because I was special and needed to be shown that every year, every day," She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. "She came with us, our dad, too. She had the twins here. Along with Dallas and she's pregnant right now again," She had a look of pride on her face.

"Where am I, exactly?" I ask, trying to go to less emotional territory.

"Well, I think we're in Wyoming, but I really don't know. They got you and your friend from somewhere in Salt Lake City, right?" I nod. I hear voices near what I assume is the entrance. Phyre's head snaps up towards the voices and she gets up and runs towards them. The voices start yelling at each other, fighting to be heard.

_SNAP!_

There is no sound.


	8. Chapter 8

**So I'm doing a new point of view for this chapter. Tell me if you like it or not, but I really need you guys to understand everything about this group of human survivors. They are, at times, different from those from the book. There are some who are just like Jamie and others who are just like Kyle in their actions. Don't hate on them too much, please. They'll get better. Well, possibly. It really depends on what inspires me. Be warned, I don't know much about Wyoming because I'm in Tennessee, but all my information came from Wikipedia. Ok, hear you go!**

**Phyre POV**

I help Luca up from the ground and glared at my older brother.

"How can you do that?" I like to call this voice my 'scary calm' voice. It always makes them nervous. They all know I'm the best fighter they've got and none really want to get hurt. He looks down at the ground, not meeting my eyes. I pull my little brother to my side; the little fighter is trying hard not to shake from fear. I move my hand up and down his arm as I glare at Atlas. "How could you hurt your own brother, your LITTLE brother?!" Earth comes running over to her twin, hugging him even though he's stiff in her arms and holding his head up in pride and confidence. Atlas sighs.

"Phyre, you know I didn't mean to hit him. You KNOW that!" I shake my head and look at the twins.

"Would you like to meet our guest back there?" Earth nods in excitement, while Luca is a little wary.

"Will it hurt us?" I grimace, but wipe my face of it and shake my head.

"No, ECHO, won't hurt you," I take their hands and glide past Atlas and pull the twins towards Echo. She's probably scared to death, hearing all the screaming and all that. She's huddled in a very tight and uncomfortable looking ball position. I smile a little at her and I see her eyes are filled with tears. I look at Luca and a big red hand print is now on his cheek. I fight to keep myself here and not go murder my asshole of an older brother. I let go of their hands and sink to the ground in front of Echo. I feel Earth and Luca do the same. I smile at Echo, but I see the fear is still in her eyes. I motion towards Earth.

"This is one of the twins. Earth, this is Echo. This is her older twin, Luca. Luca, this is Echo," They stick out their hands with great patience and kindness.

"Hey, there. I'm sorry you're scared, Echo. You don't have to be afraid of us,"

"I would be scared of Atlas, though," Earth nudges him and they look at each other. She gives him a look and understanding washes over his face. "Sorry to freak you out with that," Echo's hands lift a little and her eyes flicker to me. I smile and motion that she can. She looks back at the twins' hands and takes them, shaking gently. They smile at her and squeeze her hands, making her face light up a little.

"Where did you guys come from? Like, as a species?" I ask. I had been wondering this for a while, now. And I can get answers. Echo clears her throat again.

"We started at the Origin, but I came to this planet from the Singing World,"

"What's that like? Is it like here?" Echo smiles and shakes her head.

"No, it was much different," She looks down a little.

"How so?" Earth asks, her curiosity peaked by this.

"Well, the host bodies there are called bats and they look like a version of the bats you have here. They're blind and fly through the sky. I lived there for 6 life terms," Our faces are showing our shock and our curiosity. I swear we'll talk her head off if we keep this up. We ask many more questions and we learn a LOT. She was born on the Fire Planet, but she only stayed for 1 life term. She then went to the Singing world and thought she would stay there. Until they opened this world.

"I knew this one soul who went to 8 different planets. She went here, which is her ninth, but I didn't ever think to look for her. I didn't know where she would be,"

"What was her-"Luca started to ask, but he was interrupted by someone running down the tunnel.

"What are you DOING?!" Atlas yells as he stops right behind him. I stand up, protecting them all.

"We're talking to Echo," I say. The vain in his looks like it'll actually pop out of his head.

"Echo?!" I can tell he's aggravated that I disobeyed him by talking to her, but she was so scared. And she's pretty sweet, actually.

"Yes, ECHO. That's her name and that's what she should be called, not IT," I take her hand and the twins follow me. I walk past him, not giving him a second look, and walk with Echo, Earth, and Luca out of the tunnel that Echo has been in for 2 days.

**Echo POV**

I close my eyes tight with the brightness of the sun. I feel the blood flow through my waist down now that I'm standing again. I make a shade out of my hand and squint my eyes so I can barely see. If only I had sunglasses.

_I rarely used sunglasses before the invasion and never used them after. I think we'll be fine._

That was kind of harsh. Why is she mad at me?

_You refuse to see the possible danger we're in. You need to stay on your guard, not trust anyone._

_But Phyre won't hurt me. Neither will Earth or Luca. They're great people._

_Yes they are, really. But in the situation we're in, we can't afford to let them through our defenses._

I don't answer her and start to take in my surroundings. I really only saw mountains and a lot of trees. I turned around and saw the tunnel thing literally WAS a tunnel dug out from the mountain side. We were on a platue area surrounded by trees, making it like a forest. Towards the middle were about 15 tents on the ground and in the trees were tents, too. There were wooden walkways connecting the trees and people were walking across them. Logan gasped from the shock and amazement.

_I'm shocked and amazed at the size of this human camp. I wonder how many people live here._

I ask Phyre and she smiles, showing off her home to us proudly and waving at her friends. She told me that there are 35 people here, but there's a few women that are pregnant so there should be even MORE soon!

They actually have running water because there were pipe lines and they had some of the men make the pipes go up the trees, too. I was amazed. They had an oven, a dishwasher, sinks, and at least 8 toilets.

"This place is amazing, Phyre!" I turn around near the river bank just inside the camp. She laughs and Luca runs past us, chasing his little brother, Dallas. Phyre smiles at them and turns her attention back to me.

"It IS pretty cool, isn't it?" I nod and Earth brings over three trays filled with food. The food isn't as amazing as you would think by looking at the camp itself. We each had a lumpy roll thing, a few pieces of what could possibly be sheep, a water bottle, and some root thing. I point to them.

"What is that?" Phyre and Earth laugh.

"It's called a sugar root. We grow them down the mountain a little. They're about the only thing that we can get to grow on the mountain itself and we won't push our luck to go any farther than we do," I nod at that.

"Would you like to meet our mom?" Earth asks.

_Would that be ok, Logan?_ She sighs.

_Fine. YOU'RE in control, right?_

I sigh inwardly and she puts most of her concentration on Phyre and Earth. I look back at them and smile shyly.

"If it's ok, sure," Phyre swats the air.

"Of course it's ok, Echo! She's so open minded she'd love you just as much as we do,"

"You're wrong. You don't love me, you hate me. You're just trying to annoy your older brother," Phyre and Earth shake their heads.

"You're not bad, Echo. You're a great…person. Atlas is very wrong to hate you, just like everyone else. But most of our family don't care who or what you are, if you're nice, you're good enough to be near," I feel tears start to rise in my eyes. Not from happiness, but from sadness. Technically, they're not lying since they believe in what they say, but it's a lie all the same.

_Hey, you're good, ok? You're very good. You love Dylan just as much as me._

_Hey, where IS Dylan?_

We start to look around us frantically for her and then we see Phyre and Earth looking at us.

"What's wrong, Echo?"

_Ask them, Echo! _I pause, realizing that this is the first time she actually said my name. _Does it matter?!_

_To me, sort of._

She imagines herself rolling her eyes.

"Um, do you know where Dylan is?" Phyre and Earth look at each other, but they wiped the emotion off their faces before I could tell what it was. Phyre looked at me.

"She's probably out somewhere in the woods hunting," She shrugs and takes my hand, pulling me up from my perch on the ground and she drug me towards a little tent.

**Dylan POV**

I throw my knife at the tree for the 10 thousandth time. I kind of feel bad for using the trees for target practice. I mean, they're a valuable resource that we do need, but I had to get my feelings out somehow. And talking wouldn't do me any good. A hand falls on my shoulder and I would have stabbed them if the hand didn't cause the shock of electricity to go through me. A small sigh escapes my lips before I can stop it. He chuckles and turns me around to face him.

"Dylan, why are you murdering another life form? We've talked about this. If you need to take out your frustration and anger out on something, hunt some animals, fish in the stream," I feel my lips tug up a little at the sides and I wrap my arms around his waist and he does the same to me.

"Diesel I told you I wanted to be alone," He chuckles, making my whole body vibrate.

"I let you be alone for 30 minutes. I have a feeling that if I had waited any longer, something bad would have happened to something besides that tree,"

"Probably. Where's the parasite?" He stays silent for a second, probably thinking through a response and if I could hear it and not kill someone or something.

"Well, it's name is Echo and Phyre is showing it around," The silence in the forest is broken from my outraged scream.

"WHAT?!" I run towards camp, knife ready. Once I get in, I see what used to be Logan sitting with Alice, eating something. I swear steam is coming out of my ears from my anger. I hear Diesel running and yelling after me so I run towards it.

That beast must die before it kills any more of my family.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiya! So I assume you can guess who-acts-like-who in the story. I made it kind of obvious, but I guess it doesn't matter that much. I hope you're enjoying the story so far and like this chapter.**

**Echo POV**

"Are you _sure_ you don't want anything to drink?' I smile at Alice, Phyre's mom. She's a very sweet lady, plump because she's with child and she seems to glow in the sunlight. Her dirty –blonde hair is long, the same color as her children's, is flowing down her back. Her cheeks are re from the health that basically radiates off her skin. Every time she smiles, it seems to brighten your mood.

I hear running behind us, but I assume that it's just the kids chasing each other. That's when I see Phyre stand up protectively in front of me. I turn around to see Dylan running towards us, knife in hand. I feel my eyes widen and I start to shake. Alice stands and pulls me behind her. I blink and the next thing I see is Dylan tackling Phyre to the ground, a loud thump announcing the fight. Phyre had ripped out a knife from somewhere and they started to stab at each other.

Phyre punches Dylan in the face, making Dylan angrier, and rolls away, standing on her feet now. Dylan stands, too, and they clash their knives together, both trying to get the upper hand. Then, a boy that looks like he's in his early twenties, late teens, takes Dylan's shoulders and pulls her back. She screeches and kicks and punches the air, with no hope of hitting him. That's when she stabs his arm. Phyre, who had been pulled back and restrained by Atlas, screamed at her to stop. Dylan scowls in my direction, making me cringe and shuffle back a few steps.

_NO! You have to stand up to her! This new angry Dylan needs to be shown that no matter how cold hearted she seems, she would never do this, especially to my body, whether I'm in here or not._

_Do you REALLY think that she would let me live? Even if she knew you were alive?_ Whatever Logan was about to say wouldn't come out. She stared with me as Dylan stalked towards us. Apparently, we were to be killed. _I guess you were right, we never should have trusted Phyre and the others. We are going to die._

_We are going to die._

She seems to accept it like I have. It's now just a fact to us. We found many humans. We found Dylan. I enjoyed some of this planet. We are going to die with these humans. I look at Phyre. Her mouth is moving, but I can't hear anything. It's like I turned off my ears. I don't hear Dylan scream back at her. I don't hear Alice trying to calm both the girls in their rage and anger. All I hear is my heart beat racing and the blood flowing to my head.

I feel a small hand on my leg and look down to see Dallas. I think it was meant to be comforting, but it just scared me so much more. I really didn't want him near all this violence. I take a step towards them, hiding Dallas behind me. I will protect him. They wouldn't hurt one of their own, would they? Maybe his young age would protect him.

My ears started to work again and I started to hear the argument at hand.

"You CAN'T kill her. She's very sweet and just LOOK at her! She's in a very protective stance in front of my little sister. How could you think that the girl over there is bad?" Phyre shouts, shoving her finger into Dylan's chest. Dylan smacks her hand away.

"It took my sister, my SISTER from me. Logan was the only family I had left after seeing my blood family taken right in front of me. She saved my life multiple times and I think she deserves more respect than letting that BEAST-" I cringe when she describes me as a beast. It reminds me of the time when Logan hated me with every fiber of her existence. I wonder if she still hates me like that.

_No. You're just a tad frustrating now. I still don't like that I can't control my own body, but you're not bad._

_Thanks Logan._

_Shh. Listen to them._

"-live inside her! That thing has no right to her body! It shouldn't even BE here!"

"Well you should have thought about that before YOU decided that she should be brought here! It was YOU who found her and brought her here, not anyone else. YOU wanted her here. But now YOU want her DEAD! No WONDER Logan left you behind!" I clench my hands into fists before I say something that can make me live or die. Phyre's face is covered in shock. Apparently, she didn't think she would say that and knew that she went too far. Alice was sending Phyre a disapproving look, but Phyre's eyes were locked on Dylan. Dylan got right in Phyre's face.

"Logan didn't CHOOSE to leave. It took her two weeks, two FUCKING weeks, to be able to leave me alone in the woods. Unlike you, I HAD to survive on my own, non older brother to find rivers for me so I could wash my face and hunt food for me. No mother to hug me and tell me I still matter even though the world is now just a pile of space shit. No one was there for me. I found Logan and she basically made me feel like I still mattered. But when that whore took her from me, I felt like my life had been taken AGAIN. YOU never had that happen. I bet you barely noticed the world was taken over. So you can go fuck that tree of an older brother and stay the hell away from me. I don't want to hear you talk about me or talk to me EVER again. You hear me, slut?" Phyre's eyes narrow and Dylan shoves her with her shoulder as she stalks away. It's not until Dallas wraps his tiny, chubby toddler arms around my legs that I realize I'm shaking.

Phyre walks over to me like nothing happened and puts her arm on my shoulders.

"Come on, Echo. Let's go and play with Dallas and his monster trucks. Luca won't play with him and his monster trucks because he doesn't like them," I nod my head and they lead me towards the tent, Alice walking behind us.

I feel awful. I never should have tried to go to Sings' house. That's when it hits me. I haven't seen her since I got here. I start looking around frantically for her and Phyre asks me multiple times what's wrong.

"Sings," I say and Phyre starts running towards the area I was in earlier faster than I would have thought possible. And I start running after her, scared about what could have happened to the other soul.

That's when I hear the blood curdling scream coming from the hole that Phyre was running to.


End file.
